Eric Mangini to Be Fired in Monday Press Conference

According to the New York Daily News and WFAN Radio, owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum will announce the release of head coach Eric Mangini in an unusual Monday morning press conference at 10 AM.

The announcement comes the morning after the Jets fell 24-17 to the Miami Dolphins to finish a once-promising season at 9-7, missing the playoffs after starting 8-3.

This announcement really should come at no shock to anyone. After convincing wins over New England and Tennessee, the Jets stumbled down the stretch in losing four of their last five games.

"It's extremely frustrating. I'm disappointed in the season," said Johnson, who rarely shows any public anger. "We have a lot of talent. I'm unhappy with what turned out. I hate to disappoint the fans. I feel badly for them. They deserved more and we wanted to give it to them."

The season could not have started better for the Jets. After spending $140 million to fix both the offensive and defensive lines, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre came out of retirement for an 18th season. Following a summer-long public soap opera with the Green Bay Packers, Favre landed in New York and was declared the savior Jets fans had been waiting for.

They stormed out of the gate and after going 8-3 in their first twelve games, talk of an all-New York Super Bowl hit the airwaves and print. But an epic avalanche of turnovers, miscues and questionable playcalling have left the Jets and their fans scratching their heads wondering where it all went wrong.

Coincidentally, Favre's bad play is one main reason Gang Green will be sitting home the January. In the final five games, Favre threw only two touchdown passes to a staggering nineinterceptions. To be even more brutal, Favre did not have one 300-yard passing game this season after having seven in 2007 leading the Packers to the NFC title game.

Many players were also frustrated with how things ended:

LB Calvin Pace

"It's embarrassing, to be honest with you," he said. "We don't really have anyone to blame but ourselves. Everybody in this room should take a look in the mirror and see why we'll be sitting at home."

OL Damien Woody

"I'm trying to wrap my mind around this whole thing, just the collapse we had," he said. "One minute, we're 8-3. Next minute, we're done, season over. It's hard to fathom right now. Shoot, you could look at it like we lost five games. The Buffalo game was a gift."

OL Brandon Moore

"That's the easy way out," he sniffed. "That's like trying to blame coaches for losing. If you can't handle winning, you're never going to win anything."

As we speak, Jet fans are expressing their anger and rage on talk radio and who can blame them?

The better question now becomes, where do the Jets go from here? Do they re-evaluate the quarterback position should Favre retire? Which coordinators go or stay?

It's been 40 years since Joe Namath made his "guarantee" to the world—I wonder what he's thinking right now.